Gaza: Life amid the rubble
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More
than 400,000 of Gaza's residents were displaced by Israel's recent
50-day military operation. Some 18,000 homes were also destroyed and
many more were damaged. One of the worst affected neighbourhoods was
Shejaiya, near the eastern border, where the Israeli military says it
targeted Palestinian militants and their tunnels.
Here, four Shejaiya residents explain what it's like living within the rubble of their homes. Continue reading the main story
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Shejaiya
The crowded eastern district of Shejaiya in the Gaza Strip saw one of the bloodiest days
of the recent conflict. Israel told the 80,000 residents to leave
before it targeted the area. However, many did not believe the assault
would be so serious and remained in their homes.
On the night of Saturday 19 July, Shejaiya was pounded with
heavy artillery, mortars and air strikes sending up columns of thick,
black smoke. Within 24 hours, dozens of Palestinians and at least 13
Israeli soldiers were killed.From early on Sunday morning there were chaotic scenes as thousands of local people tried to flee. They headed to Gaza City, searching for shelter at United Nations' schools and at the main Shifa hospital, which was overwhelmed with casualties.
Battles erupted between Israeli troops and Hamas militants in the streets. Israel's officials say the residential neighbourhood contained a fortified network of tunnels used for attacks and to produce and store rockets. The Palestinian government has described the killing of civilians as a "heinous massacre".
Satellite imagery before and after the conflict shows a razed neighbourhood
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Teacher Abdul Karim Abu Ahmed, 55, says
Shejaiya used to be a beautiful district and that he was proud to live
here. He had a big house with a garden that he shared with his wife and
11 children, aged seven to 25, but it was shattered in the bombardment.
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Meanwhile, he is renting a flat in Gaza City where they also stay with his wife and daughters. He is based at the Education Ministry and supervises English language teaching for Gaza's elementary schools.
Some pages of work that he had brought home for marking, still blow around in the rubble.
However, he has salvaged his treasured English novels and folders from the ruins of his study and piled them up in a bedroom.
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'We will rebuild'
Mr Abu Ahmed, his brother and two of his sons, spend much of their day at their badly damaged home and are determined to rebuild when they can.Meanwhile, he is renting a flat in Gaza City where they also stay with his wife and daughters. He is based at the Education Ministry and supervises English language teaching for Gaza's elementary schools.
Some pages of work that he had brought home for marking, still blow around in the rubble.
However, he has salvaged his treasured English novels and folders from the ruins of his study and piled them up in a bedroom.
Barber
Essam Habib set up his barber's shop just off Habib Street in
Shejaiya 18 months ago. Although the recent fighting brought
destruction throughout the neighbourhood, his business and family home
opposite remained standing.
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"I did not have another choice but to clean up this shop, come back to work and pray to God to bless us," he says.
Water pipes have been broken in the area and there are straggling power cables on the ground so Essam must bring in water and use a generator when he's cutting hair.
Like most locals, Essam is mourning the loss of loved ones. His aunt, her husband and daughters were all killed in an Israeli air strike.
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Cleanliness in the dust
There are not many customers left in Shejaiya, but Essam says he must try to support his family as best he can."I did not have another choice but to clean up this shop, come back to work and pray to God to bless us," he says.
Water pipes have been broken in the area and there are straggling power cables on the ground so Essam must bring in water and use a generator when he's cutting hair.
Like most locals, Essam is mourning the loss of loved ones. His aunt, her husband and daughters were all killed in an Israeli air strike.
Grandmother Suhila Mohamadain, 54, is a
mother of 12 and lost one of her sons, Ismail, in the latest conflict.
He was on the top floor of their four-storey building when it came
under heavy bombardment. A poster in his memory now hangs from the
broken walls.
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Now it has been reduced to rubble and the family's car, tuk-tuk and fully stocked grocery store have also been crushed.
The force of the blast blew a pick-up truck parked nearby onto the roof of the house before another air strike knocked it down.
The family has squeezed into a rented apartment, however, they spend much of the day camped by the remains of their home.
"The rebuilding of the house will take years," Suhila says. "There's not much left in my life. I don't want anything but to live in peace."
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'We are homeless'
It took more than a decade to build the family home, which was divided into eight apartments.Now it has been reduced to rubble and the family's car, tuk-tuk and fully stocked grocery store have also been crushed.
The force of the blast blew a pick-up truck parked nearby onto the roof of the house before another air strike knocked it down.
The family has squeezed into a rented apartment, however, they spend much of the day camped by the remains of their home.
"The rebuilding of the house will take years," Suhila says. "There's not much left in my life. I don't want anything but to live in peace."
Mohammed Habib is a construction worker
who cannot yet repair his own badly damaged house because of the lack
of building materials. An entire exterior wall of the family home was
blown apart as Israeli air strikes and tank fire destroyed the buildings
and a clinic opposite.
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They took temporary shelter in a UN school but returned as soon as they could. They managed to clear out two rooms of their house in which some 25 people now stay.
They include Mohammed's wife and daughter, his father, grandmother, his brothers and their wives and children.
There is no electricity and water comes from tanks in the street.
Mohammed is worried about the future. He says it will take years to remove all the rubble and rebuild. "Only God knows when there will be a solution."
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Builder without materials
Mohammed and his relatives fled Shejaiya as it was being heavily shelled on 19 July.They took temporary shelter in a UN school but returned as soon as they could. They managed to clear out two rooms of their house in which some 25 people now stay.
They include Mohammed's wife and daughter, his father, grandmother, his brothers and their wives and children.
There is no electricity and water comes from tanks in the street.
Mohammed is worried about the future. He says it will take years to remove all the rubble and rebuild. "Only God knows when there will be a solution."
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This feature was produced by:
In Gaza, Yolande Knell (reporter, photographs), Moose Campbell (camera), Hamada Abu Qammar (producer), Yousef Shomali (producer)In London, Christine Jeavans, Salim Qurashi, Patrick Asare, Nzar Tofiq and Melanie Moeller
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